"I Am Not Done" - Kamala Harris Teases New White House Run

Authored by Jacki Thrapp via The Epoch Times,

Kamala Harris isn’t ruling out another run for the White House.

The former vice president hinted that she may run for president again in 2028 during an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuessenberg.

Kuessenberg brought up Harris’s young nieces and asked, “When are they going to see a woman in charge in the White House?”

“In their lifetime, for sure,” Harris responded.

"Could it be you?” Kuessenberg questioned.

“Possibly,” Harris replied.

Harris became the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in July 2024 and endorsed her.

The 61-year-old politician confirmed to the BBC that a bid for the presidency in 2028 is still on the table, and said that her career in politics will continue.

“I am not done,” Harris said.

“I have lived my entire career, a life of service, and it’s in my bones, and there are many ways to serve. I’ve not decided yet what I will do in the future beyond what I am doing right now.”

BBC: In the campaign, you said Donald Trump was a fascist. Do you think he's running a fascist authoritarian government?

Kamala Harris: I was asked if he was a fascist and I said yes. Look at what’s happening right now.

pic.twitter.com/CxXQzhj4bH

— Spencer Hakimian (@SpencerHakimian) October 25, 2025

The former U.S. senator has been on tour promoting her book, “107 Days.”

The book, which detailed the 107 days she spent running for president against President Donald Trump after Biden exited the race, was published on Sept. 23 and is on track to become the best-selling memoir of 2025, according to a statement from her publisher, Simon & Schuster.

Harris served as the first woman district attorney in San Francisco from 2004 to 2010 before being elected Attorney General of California.

She served as a U.S. senator representing California from 2017 to 2021, unsuccessfully ran to be the Democratic nominee for president in the 2020 race, and was selected as VP on Biden’s ticket, making her the 49th vice president of the United States.

An Emerson College Poll from June 2025 showed former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as the early frontrunner to lead the Democratic Party into the 2028 election.

Harris admitted that the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was her first choice for vice president when she ran in 2024, but she did not think a Harris-Buttigeig ticket would beat Trump.

“He would have been an ideal partner—if I were a straight white man,” Harris wrote in her book “107 Days.”

“But we were already asking a lot of America: to accept a woman, a Black woman. A Black woman married to a Jewish man. Part of me wanted to say ... let’s just do it. But knowing what was at stake, it was too big of a risk. I think Pete also knew that—to our mutual sadness.”

Tyler Durden Sat, 10/25/2025 - 19:50

Trump Hikes Canada's Tariffs By 10% for Not Pulling Anti-Tariff Ad Immediately

President Trump announced on Saturday afternoon that he will increase tariffs on Canada by 10% in response to an anti-tariff advertisement by the province of Ontario that featured Ronald Reagan, and which is roiling one of the world’s biggest bilateral trade relationships.

Trump said the ad campaign misrepresented Reagan’s speech on tariffs, and aimed at interfering with the upcoming Supreme Court hearing on his administration’s global tariffs.

“Canada was caught, red-handed, putting up a fraudulent advertisement on Ronald Reagan’s Speech on Tariffs,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“The Reagan Foundation said that they, ‘created an ad campaign using selective audio and video of President Ronald Reagan. The ad misrepresents the Presidential Radio Address,’ and ‘did not seek nor receive permission to use and edit the remarks. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute is reviewing its legal options in this matter.’”

“Their Advertisement was to be taken down, IMMEDIATELY, but they let it run last night during the World Series, knowing that it was a FRAUD. Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now.”

The US president didn’t specify the scope of his new measure. While Canada faces a US base tariff of 35%, the rate doesn’t apply to most Canadian goods because of an exemption for products and shipments made within the rules of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Steel and aluminum products don’t have that waiver — and Canadian-made cars and trucks are only partially eligible for exemption from Trump’s 25% tariffs on most foreign autos.

“Tariffs at any level remain a tax on America first, then North American competitiveness as a whole,” Candace Laing, head of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Ottawa, said in a statement. “We hope this threat of escalation can be resolved through diplomatic channels and further negotiation.”

Canada PM Mark Carney has been engaged in talks with the US to lower the levies and Ontario Premier Doug Ford has pledged to pause the Ontario-funded ads in the US on Monday after speaking to Carney in hopes that the talks could resume. After Trump first halted the negotiations, Carney said Ottawa was prepared to resume discussions “when the Americans are ready,” and said that the two sides had been making progress on steel, aluminum and energy.

In contrast, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told Fox News on Friday that negotiations with Canada have “not been going well” and Trump is “very frustrated.”

Trump said the ads appear to be timed to influence a US Supreme Court case challenging the legality of many of his global tariffs, threatening a pillar of his reelection campaign and subsequent economic agenda. The court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case on Nov. 5. Trump said SCOTUS would create a disaster if it overturns his country-based tariffs, including forcing the US government to refund companies billions of dollars in duties.

Trump said Thursday he’d end all talks with Canada because of the ad, which used excerpts from a 1987 Reagan speech defending free trade and slamming tariffs as an outdated notion that stifles innovation, drives up prices and hurts US workers.  When Reagan delivered the radio address, he had just placed “select” tariffs on Japanese electronics for what he considered unfair trade practices. 

The Reagan quotations were edited together from different parts of his speech, prompting the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute to complain that the ad misrepresented the full address. The foundation said it’s reviewing its legal options.

The Government of Ontario just spent $75 million on a pro-trade/anti-tariff ad starring... Ronald Reagan. pic.twitter.com/uD5wJgZEzv

— Scott Lincicome (@scottlincicome) October 15, 2025

Trump made his latest announcement while en route to a three-country trip to Asia that includes stops at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Malaysia and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea. Asked if he had any plans to meet Carney during the two summits, the US president said as he began his trip that “I don’t have any intention of it, no.”

Tyler Durden Sat, 10/25/2025 - 18:40

'Gapazoid' The Suicidal Pedo Who Rushed Wikipedia Conference Stage With Gun Was Ex-Editor

A gunman who rushed the stage at the Wikipedia WikiConference in New York City last week was a suicidal pedophile who was going to kill himself in protest of the propaganda website's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy when it comes to adults who fantasize about sex with children. 

Richard Knipel, rear, rushed to grab a man with a gun after witnesses said the man threatened to shoot himself at a Wikipedia conference in Manhattan on Friday.Credit...Bill Adair, Duke University

Connor Weston, 27, allegedly rushed the stage, pointed a loaded revolver at his head, and declared "I’m a non-contact pedophile. I want to kill myself." 

Of note, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales said in leaked e-mails that there would be a secret prohibition on self-identifying pedophiles that he made official policy in 2010. Under these rules, editors identifying as pedos are banned indefinitely. Weston posted under the name 'Gapazoid,' according to a statement. 

The gunman stepped on stage next to Maryanna Iskander, the Chief Executive Officer of the Wikimedia Foundation that owns Wikipedia, during her keynote address and announced that he was an “anti-contact no-offending” pedophile who was planning to kill himself in protest of the site’s child protection policy.

He described the child protection policy as a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, a term used by site co-founder Jimmy Wales in leaked e-mails to describe a secret prohibition on self-identifying pedophiles that Wales officially made public policy in 2010. Under current policy, editors identifying as pedophiles are banned indefinitely. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” references a policy previously in place in the U.S. military regarding homosexuality prior to allowing homosexual individuals to serve openly. -Breitbart

Weston was eventually subdued by two volunteer security members at the conference (wut?) - Richard Knipel and Andrew Lih, site admins who edit as “Pharos” and “Fuzheado” respectively. One day later, Arbitration Committee member “ScottishFinnishRadish” (SFR) published revealed that Weston was behind the Gapazoid account, and that they had implemented a global ban after SFR banned his account on the English Wikipedia site in February. 

SFR admitted that he was violating a non-disclosure agreement by commenting on the incident, though a majority of committee members endorsed the publication of his comment. 

A pedophile activist has been arrested after storming a Wikipedia conference and threatening to commit suicide on stage.

Connor Gardner Weston is a member of a prominent pro-pedophile group that has been promoted by academics and the media.

READ: https://t.co/X5ShJKaSFf pic.twitter.com/PGk8zqB5yF

— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) October 19, 2025

According to Breitbart, "Weston had made over a hundred edits and translated an article from the Japanese Wikipedia, before commenting on the discussion page of the child protection policy to complain the policy conflated “non-offending pedophiles and supporters of child sex abuse.” He was banned several days later."

What's more, Weston emailed Wikipedia notifying them of his intent to protest at the Foundation headquarters.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

In 2007, Wales wrote this in response to a thread about banning pedophiles;

I agree with this completely.

This is a thorny issue, and I have little to add to it. We don't want a
witch hunt. We also don't want a huge press scandal.

It is inevitable that at some point a reporter is going to come to me
and tell me about a user I don't know about, asking "Why does Wikipedia
allow a self-confessed pedophile to edit articles about children?"

And my response is going to be: "O RLY? *block*"

I will use "disruption" as my reason or "useless editor" or whatever
seems to suit the circumstance.

At the same time, other than that, I think our best approach is just
like our best approach with other types of problems:

1. Quiet diplomacy is good
2. Don't ask, don't tell is good

--Jimbo

So the plan when it comes to outed WikiPedos (since we're guessing there's a bunch) is to call it a distraction, or minimize the pedo's import to the organization. 

'You know it's bad when...'

Tyler Durden Sat, 10/25/2025 - 18:05

Japan Will Play A Much Greater Role In Advancing The American Agenda In Asia

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

Putin’s senior aide Nikolai Patrushev gave an interview to Arguments and Facts about Japan on the 80th anniversary of its unilateral surrender in World War II in early September that’s important to raise wider awareness of after the appointment of its new ultra-nationalist prime minister. He began by reminding everyone that “Tokyo zealously cultivated an open racism that surpassed German Nazism in its absurdity and inhumanity. And the sovereignty of other countries was considered an empty phrase there.”

Patrushev then touched upon Imperial Japan’s failed geopolitical plot to turn the Sea of Japan into an inland sea and even seize Kamchatka so as “to gain undivided possession of the Sea of Okhotsk” too. He assessed that Japan’s current campaign for “’justice’ on the issue of the so-called ‘northern territories’” is just a disguise for a similar plot to obtain control over new marine (seafood and mineral) resources. Patrushev accordingly warned that it’s planning to make new claims to Russian maritime territory.

The emerging trend of misportraying Imperial Japan as the “victim” of Soviet aggression in 1945, despite the Allies having agreed in advance that the USSR would open up the Manchurian Front three months after the Nazis’ defeat, is meant to lend false legitimacy to these claims. This threat shouldn’t be downplayed, Patrushev warned, since Japan’s “Self-Defense Forces” de facto function as national armed forces, are NATO-backed, and are “systematically building a powerful and ultra-modern submarine fleet”.

In his words, “Japan is one of the most powerful naval powers in the world today. Its fleet is capable of solving almost any task even in remote areas of the World Ocean. The Japanese Navy closely cooperates with the NATO fleet, and at any moment they can be integrated into Western coalition formats.” Even more concerning are Japan’s nuclear breakthrough capabilities: “it is capable of creating its own nuclear arsenal and means of delivery in a few years” if the decision is made, according to Patrushev.

Nevertheless, these threats shouldn’t be exaggerated either since Russia is “building up defensive potential in the Far East and strengthening our naval power in the Pacific Ocean”, thus meaning that it’s more than capable of defending itself from Japan. Rather, “The threat lies not so much in the destroyers and missiles, but in the fact that the national consciousness of the Japanese is shifting from pacifism to rabid revanchism”, which he attributed to a long-running “aggressive propaganda” campaign.

The purpose is to precondition the population to accept the risks associated with Japan more actively advancing US interests in the region via the “Squad” (those two, Australia, and the Philippines), which is envisaged as the core of AUKUS+, the US’ desired NATO-like regional analogue. Japan’s place in the US’ Chinese Containment Coalition just rose as a result of the unexpected Sino-Indo rapprochement, prior to which the US wanted India to play a complementary role, so Japan is now at the forefront of this effort.

The trend is that New Cold War’s focus is shifting from US-led NATO’s containment of Russia in Europe to US-led AUKUS+’s containment of China in Asia, all while the TRIPP Corridor injects Western influence into the Eurasian Heartland to stir trouble for both. India’s Pakistani rival is also poised to play a supportive role on the Central Asian front if tensions with the Taliban abate.

Altogether, Poland, Japan, Turkiye, and possibly Pakistan are now the US’ top containment allies, which isn’t lost on Russia, India, and China.

Tyler Durden Sat, 10/25/2025 - 17:30

Virginia Governor Declares Emergency Over Looming Loss Of SNAP Benefits; USDA Warns Funds Running Out USDA Warns It Can't Use Contingency Funds To Cover SNAP In November

The federal government shutdown entered Day 25 on Saturday, with cryptocurrency-based prediction market Polymarket showing odds in the single digits that Democrats and Republicans will reach a resolution before November 3. The market currently assigns a 15% probability that the shutdown will end between November 12 and 15.

We have warned readers of the potential for major disruptions to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) if the federal government remains closed. Betting odds markets and limited political chatter in the Capitol Beltway this weekend (so far) suggest a resolution to the shutdown remains muted for next week.

Must Read:

• What Are The Chances Of A Food Stamp Collapse In November?

• 5 Key Dates To Watch As Shutdown Drags On

In 2025, around 42 million people relied on SNAP benefits, which accounted for 12% of the population. This is more than enough people to create chaos should SNAP funds run dry in the coming weeks.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) warned:

Due to Congressional Democrats' refusal to pass a clean continuing resolution (CR), approximately 42 million individuals will not receive their SNAP benefits come November 1

The USDA states that SNAP's contingency fund cannot legally be used for regular monthly benefits during a lapse in appropriations. That fund is intended for emergencies such as Disaster SNAP after hurricanes or floods, not to replace missing federal funding. The agency also warned that shifting money from other food programs would undermine school meals and WIC (infant formula and nutrition support), adding that states cannot step in to front the money, because SNAP benefits are fully federally funded and there is no legal way for states to be reimbursed.

Recall from our note citing Goldman analysts over the summer: here is the SNAP exposure for discount chains Dollar General and Dollar Tree.

 SNAP exposure for DG stores

SNAP exposure for DLTR stores

It's a helpful way to visualize where clusters of SNAP benefits are primarily used geographically.

And now, as Jill McLaughlin details below for The Epoch Times, Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency in Virginia on Oct. 23 to provide relief for residents at risk of losing federal food benefits next month.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin delivers his annual State of the Commonwealth address before a joint session of the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond on Jan. 13, 2025. Steve Helber/AP Photo

The ongoing government shutdown will cause low-income residents in the state to lose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits starting Nov. 1 if lawmakers are unable to reach an agreement to pass a budget bill and reopen the government.

Over 850,000 residents in the state could lose benefits, according to the governor, a Republican, who blamed Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown.

“This is an extraordinary action and is only necessary because of the shamelessness of congressional Democrats,” Youngkin said in a statement.

The declaration allows Youngkin to spend state emergency funds to protect the “health, welfare, and safety of Virginians,” according to the governor.

Virginia’s poverty rate is about 10 percent, according to the latest census. The national rate is 12.4 percent.

The federal nutrition program provides monthly payments to eligible low-income households, allowing them to buy food. The average monthly payment is about $332 per household, with most living at or below the poverty level. Households with children receive an average of $574 per month, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Four out of five households that receive SNAP payments include either a child, an elderly person, or someone with a disability, the USDA reported.

Other states have also taken emergency action over the looming loss of SNAP funds.

California announced Wednesday that the state was fast-tracking up to $80 million in state funds and deploying the National Guard and state volunteers to support food banks during the shutdown. About 5.5 million Californians are expected to lose SNAP benefits in November.

"This is serious, this is urgent—and requires immediate action,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said on Oct. 22 that he has requested that state lawmakers consider using up to $10 million of the state’s general fund to support food banks and pantries.

A sign alerting customers about SNAP benefits is displayed at a Brooklyn grocery store in New York City on Dec. 5, 2019. EBT stands for electronic benefit transfer. Scott Heins/Getty Images

Multiple states have also warned SNAP holders they need to prepare to lose benefits next month.

In Washington on Thursday, the Senate failed to pass a bill to pay U.S. troops and active federal workers during the shutdown. The Republican-led “Shutdown Fairness Act” failed on a cloture vote of 54–45, falling short of the 60 votes needed to advance.

The SNAP program is set to change Nov. 1. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in July, recipient work requirements will apply to adults 18 to 65, unless they are unable to work due to a physical or mental limitation. Other changes to exemptions will also apply.

Tyler Durden Sat, 10/25/2025 - 16:55

"You Have To Be Scared... Forcefully Rise Up": Democrat Leaders Ramp Up Resistance Rhetoric

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

Despite calls for many Democratic politicians and pundits to temper their inflammatory rhetoric, this week has proven a further escalation in this dangerous form of rage rhetoric.

DNC Chair Ken Martin just told MSNBC’s “The Beat” that “we may be nearing” the moment when “elections don’t matter and then the resistance looks completely different.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on people to “forcefully rise up.”

With political violence on the rise, these leaders are clearly fueling the mob in hopes that they and their party can ride the wave of rage back into power. 

History suggests that it is a foolish delusion. Today’s revolutionaries quickly become tomorrow’s reactionaries.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who pictures himself brandishing a baseball bat has previously called upon people to “fight in the streets.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom previously declared, “I’m going to punch these sons of bitches in the mouth.”

Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger  called upon her supporters to “Let your rage fuel you.” She then refused to withdraw her support for the Democratic candidate for Attorney General, Jay Jones, who once expressed his desire to kill his political opponents and his children.

In his podcast with co-host Al Hunt, James Carville was again spewing unhinged hate. He returned to treating Trump and others as Nazis and their supporters as “collaborators.” I previously criticized Carville for that analogy. He later attacked me.

Doubling down, Carville declared

“You know what we do with collaborators? I think these corporations, my fantasy dream is that this nightmare ends in 2029 and I think we ought to have radical things. I think they all ought to have their heads shaven, they should be put in orange pajamas and they should be marched down Pennsylvania Avenue and the public should be invited to spit on them.”

To be sure that his menacing words were not lost, he then added “The universities, the corporations, the law firms, all of these collaborators should be shaved, pajamaed and spit on.”

There was no later push back by his co-host Hunt or anyone else associated with the podcast.

[ZH: Carville later ratcheted up the Trump hysteria with a full-blown doomer meltdown, raging that Trump "hates the United States” and that Americans should be living in fear.

“You have to be scared…there is no hope…there is fear…I know I’m an old man, but I’m one scared dude."]

James Carville ratchets up Trump hysteria, has full blown doomer meltdown: Rages that Trump "hates the United States” and that Americans should be living in fear.

“You have to be scared…there is no hope…there is fear…I know I’m an old man, but I’m one scared dude."… pic.twitter.com/TbLob8cbsc

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) October 25, 2025

As one of those Carville has already attacked, I expect he has a haircut and public humiliation in mind for me and a significant number of others deemed insufficiently committed to the resistance.

Even with the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the attempts on Trump and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, these politicians and pundits are still fueling the madness. Even with the sniper attack on ICE officers, they are still calling these law enforcement officers “Gestapo” and “Nazis.”

In my book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I write about rage and the uncomfortable truth for many engaging in rage rhetoric:

“What few today want to admit is that they like it. They like the freedom that it affords, the ability to hate and harass without a sense of responsibility. It is evident all around us as people engage in language and conduct that they repudiate in others. We have become a nation of rage addicts, flailing against anyone or anything that stands in opposition to our own truths. Like all addictions, there is not only a dependency on rage but an intolerance for opposing views. … Indeed, to voice free speech principles in a time of rage is to invite the rage of the mob.”

The appearance of guillotines has become commonplace in left-wing protests. From protests against Trump to those against Israel, the symbol of the Terror is being rolled out as a warning to those with opposing views: “We got the guillotine, you better run.”

It is the ultimate expression of an age of rage. There is no question that it is protected speech. However, it is part of what I have called “rage rhetoric,” and it is meant to inflame others. It suggests that the only solution to these issues is what the French called “the razor of the Republic.”

In the French Revolution, the irony is that those who turned the guillotine into the symbol of revolution were themselves beheaded on the same platforms. Robespierre and others would ultimately be dispatched in the same atmosphere of rage and revelry.

As my new book discusses, most revolutions are driven by establishment figures who seek to capitalize on the wave of popular rage to gain power. We are seeing that today with many Democratic leaders using rage rhetoric to appeal to the far extremes of their political bases.

Some have. Protesters are burning cars, dealerships, and even lawyers and reporters on the left are throwing Molotov cocktails at police.

In the end, today’s pseudo-revolutionaries are likely to find themselves tomorrow’s reactionaries. Leading mobs is rarely a safe place to be as more radical elements take hold of a movement. The result is an inexorable pattern that runs throughout history as revolution devours its own.

*  *  * YOU CLEANED US OUT OF CREATINE (resupply in two weeks)

But it's in this too...  not just for workouts. It's also a nootropic and, energy / focus drink that's sugar-free. 

Tyler Durden Sat, 10/25/2025 - 16:20

US Slaps Extensive Sanctions On Colombian President & Family Over Narco-Trade

Amid an ongoing verbal spat and back-and-forth between Washington and Bogotá, the United States on Friday announced extensive sanctions against Colombian President Gustavo Petro, along with his family and a senior cabinet minister.

The Trump White House has accused the Colombian administration of enabling drug cartels and facilitating narcotics trafficking to North America, at a moment of immense US military build-up near Venezuela and Latin America.

Via CBS News

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement that ever since Petro took office in 2022, "cocaine production in Colombia has exploded to the highest level in decades, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans."

He hailed Trump's "decisive action to protect our nation" which sends "a clear message that drug trafficking will not be tolerated."

The sanctions also target First Lady Verónica del Socorro Alcocer García, Petro’s son Nicolás, and Interior Minister Armando Benedetti - all alleged to be the Colombian leader's "accomplices."

American citizens and companies are now effectively barred from doing any business with these listed entities, and they will also see any assets held in the US frozen.

Petro has loudly denounced and rejected the accusations against his country, saying he's long aggressively fought the significant drug trade in his country.

The NY Times notes that a rise in illegal drugs out of the country has been a trend which began before Petro took office, though the cocaine trade has continued to worsen under his leadership.

"The cultivation of coca, the base product in cocaine, has soared since Mr. Petro took office in 2022. It also soared under his predecessor, Iván Duque, a conservative and close ally of Washington Republicans," the publication writes.

"In the CIA, we didn’t give a hoot about democracy. It was fine if a government was elected and would cooperate with us, but if it didn’t, then democracy wouldn’t mean a thing to us."

-Former CIA Agent Philip Agee

‘In the CIA, we didn’t give a hoot about democracy. It was fine if a government was elected and would cooperate with us, but if it didn’t, then democracy wouldn’t mean a thing to us’

-Former CIA Agent Philip Agee

Democratically elected Presidents overthrown via CIA-backed coups… https://t.co/RyK8J2aNoc pic.twitter.com/OVkMAKHGbF

— Going Underground (@GUnderground_TV) October 24, 2025

The NY Times reviews further:

Mr. Petro, a leftist, is one of few leaders in Latin America who have been vocal in their criticism of Mr. Trump’s decision to bomb boats carrying people his administration says are drug traffickers. The bombings have killed dozens of people, and Mr. Petro has said that Colombians have been among them and has accused the United States of committing murder.

Mr. Trump has responded by calling Mr. Petro “an illegal drug leader” and said that he would cut off aid to Colombia. About $377 million was designated to Colombia in the 2024 fiscal year, according to the Congressional Research Service. About a third of that money is meant for law enforcement and narcotics control.

But when it comes to the many decades-long so-called 'war on drugs' - there's plenty of blame to go around. The CIA has at times even participated in it at times, to raise funds for the Nicaragua Contras in the 1980s, for example.

Since President Gustavo Petro came to power, cocaine production in Colombia has exploded to record high rates, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans. President Petro has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity. Today, President Trump is… https://t.co/8ONvbFFPFr

— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) October 24, 2025

Days ago the US for the first time attacked alleged drug smuggling boats on the Pacific side of South America for the first time, suggesting these operations could geographically expand at any time.

Tyler Durden Sat, 10/25/2025 - 15:45

US Says First Day Of China Trade Talks "Very Constructive"

Amid mounting trade war tensions which saw the market suffer its biggest drop since April two weeks ago following a post on Trump's Truth Social in which he threatened a fresh surge in Chinese tariffs over its retaliation with rare earth minerals, the latest round of talks between the two superpowers in Malaysia started off on the right foot after the US said it held “very constructive” discussions with China as President Donald Trump began his trip to the region including a meeting with the Chinese leader next week.

As Bloomberg reports, Chinese and American officials met in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday for a new round of talks aimed at defusing a standoff between the world’s two largest economies. A spokesperson for the US Treasury gave a brief description of the exchange and said it will resume Sunday.

The Chinese delegation made no public remarks after the 5.5-hour-long meeting at Merdeka 118, the world’s second-tallest building. Vice Premier He Lifeng led the Chinese side and was joined by Trade Representative Li Chenggang and Vice Finance Minister Liao Min. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent headed the US team.

As a reminder, two weeks ago, when the trade relations between the two countries suddenly collapsed, Bessent lashed out at Chenggang calling him “unhinged”, as he announced the US is planning “price floors” and “forward buying” to prevent future supply chain disruptions by Beijing’s export controls. Bessent made the remarks five days after President Trump threatened an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods in response to Beijing’s rules requiring companies to seek permission to export products made with rare-earth or critical minerals, reducing the flow of batteries, magnets and semiconductors to the US.

Bessent revealed more of the backstory behind China’s surprise rule changes announced Oct. 9, claiming that the bellicose Li Chenggang “showed up uninvited” in DC on Aug. 28 and threatened that “China would unleash chaos on the global system” if the US didn’t abandon docking fees for Chinese ships. 

“There was a lower level trade person who was slightly unhinged here in August … threatening, saying China would unleash chaos on the global system if the US went ahead with our docking fees on Chinese ships, and this is something they clearly were planning all along,” Bessent said during CNBC’s “Invest in America” forum.

We expect many questions why China decided to deploy Chenggang again, knowing well it would antagonize the US Treasury Secretary, unless of course that was its intention.  

Bessent and He, a longtime associate of Xi, face the task of negotiating down new escalatory measures imposed by their countries against one another. They are also setting the stage for expected talks on Thursday between Xi and US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit in South Korea. 

Ahead of the meeting, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he and Xi have “a lot of things to discuss” and expects both sides to make compromises, although he won’t put odds on getting a deal.

“They have to make concessions. I guess we would too. We’re at 157% tariff for them. I don’t think that’s sustainable for them, and they want to get that down, and we want certain things from them," Trump said Friday on his way to Asia.

Asked what odds he would put on imposing the additional 100% levies on China, Trump said: “I don’t know. I have no odds. I don’t think they would want that. It would not be good for them. I wouldn’t like to see it.” 

The US president will meet with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday to discuss trade, investment and security. Bloomberg News previously reported he looks to sign economic agreements and critical minerals deals with trading partners during the trip, the first to the region during his second term.

Ahead of his meeting with Xi, Trump said he wants to extend a pause on higher tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing resuming American soybean purchases, cracking down on fentanyl and backing off restrictions on rare-earth exports. Earlier in October, Trump lashed out against Beijing’s vow to broaden controls on rare-earth elements, raising the prospect of setting a sky-high tariff rate on Chinese goods and even canceling his first in-person meeting with Xi since he returned to the White House this year. His comments sparked a painful if short selloff. 

At stake is a trade truce that’s set to run out on Nov. 10 unless extended. Months of tentative stability in the US-China relationship have been upended in recent weeks after Washington broadened some tech restrictions and proposed levies on Chinese ships entering US ports.

China responded with parallel moves and outlined tighter export controls on rare earths and other critical materials. On Monday, the Ministry of Commerce convened an unusually large meeting in Beijing with foreign businesses, in an effort to reassure them that its latest export controls aren’t meant to restrict normal trade.

The global ripples of China’s export controls underscore how the trade war has injected uncertainty into the world economy and trade. Chinese shipments to Southeast Asia and the European Union have jumped this year as US tariffs soared, which may pressure local manufacturers. 

After meeting south-east Asian leaders in Malaysia on Sunday, Trump will fly to Japan to meet Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s new prime minister. 

In a post on X on Saturday, Takaichi said that she had held a “good and candid” with Trump. Takaichi, who became prime minister this week, added that she would seek to strengthen Japan’s alliance with the US.

Had a good and candid conversation with @realDonaldTrump today and truly appreciated his warm congratulatory message on my appointment as Prime Minister. Together with him, I am determined to elevate the Japan–U.S. Alliance to even greater heights.

Starting tomorrow, I’ll be…

— 高市早苗 (@takaichi_sanae) October 25, 2025

On Friday, she announced plans to increase Tokyo’s defence spending, in a move that analysts said would give her scope to pledge further expansion of the military budget during Trump’s visit.

Speaking at the Mount Fuji Dialogue forum in Tokyo on Saturday, US ambassador to Japan George Glass said Trump was visiting Japan “at a time of rising tensions in the region”.

“This is a very tough neighbourhood,” Glass said. “The US-Japan alliance and our partners face determined and dangerous adversaries, adversaries that will do whatever it takes to undermine our alliance and weaken our regional partnerships.”

Tyler Durden Sat, 10/25/2025 - 14:35

At the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter this week:

Click on graph for larger image.

• NAR: Existing-Home Sales Increased to 4.06 million SAAR in September

• NMHC on Apartments: Market conditions "Soften" in Q3

• Lawler: Early Read on September Existing Home Sales, and Update on MBS Yields and Spreads

• 2nd Look at Local Housing Markets in September

• California Home Sales Up 6.6% Year-over-year SAAR in September

This is usually published 4 to 6 times a week and provides more in-depth analysis of the housing market.

Bruce Mehlman is an interesting guy who runs a bipartisan consulting shop in D.C.

The post “How NOT to Invest” with Bruce Mehlman appeared first on The Big Picture.

America's Population Is Dropping - Here's Why It Matters

Authored by Autumn Spredemann via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The data are in: The United States is getting older and welcoming fewer babies. This decades-long phenomenon is creating a demographic squeeze that some anticipate will affect nearly every aspect of the nation’s economy and infrastructure over the next couple of decades.

Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock

“I see a total reshuffling of our economy and society, brought about by historic demographic turnover,” regenerative medicine specialist Dr. David Ghozland told The Epoch Times.

In a report for the American Enterprise Institute, economist Jesús Fernández-Villaverde called falling U.S. fertility rates “the true economic challenge of [the] time.”

The number of adults aged 65 and older is forecast to hit 82 million by 2050 and will make up 23 percent of the population, according to the Population Reference Bureau. That is a 42 percent increase from 58 million people aged 65 and older in 2022.

Meanwhile, the general fertility rate—the number of live births per 1,000 women of childbearing age—has dropped to record lows. The North American rate plummeted from 3.1 in 1950 to 1.6 in 2023, according to a McKinsey Global Institute analysis published in January.

Ghozland said he believes that this population inversion will force structural changes at the budget and care level, potentially leading to what he called a “cruel choice” in the next 10 years.

“We will experience a regulated destruction of safety nets such as Medicare,” he said, calling the rapidly aging population the “primary political and economic competition of [the] era.”

Health Care Upheaval

Ghozland said he is already seeing a dramatic change in the health care industry.

“We are currently observing the boom of the longevity business, which is going to become a multibillion-dollar industry exceeding 30 trillion [dollars] that will integrate biotech, wellness, and regenerative medicine,” he said.

Medicine and wellness care focused on supporting longevity is no longer a niche industry, according to Ghozland. However, he said this new economic driver in the health care sector hides a “great threat.”

Ghozland said that population inversion, aside from putting more pressure on existing U.S. health care resources, will lead to the long-term disintegration of the “social contract.”

Aspen Economic Strategy Group Director Melissa S. Kearney wrote in a September 2024 essay for The Dispatch: “We should not blithely declare that falling birth rates are of no real consequence, or even something to be celebrated. An increasingly aging and childless culture poses problems for individuals, families, and nations.”

Staffing shortages within the health care sector are already creating challenges. A recent AAG Health report on staffing statistics stated that the United States is already short 500,000 nurses this year, with a 10 percent shortage projected to last through 2027. Based on current industry trends, the United States could face a dearth of 3.2 million health care workers by 2026.

In a 2024 study published in the journal Aging, researchers said the health care system, as it stands, is “underprepared for the onslaught of demands this aging population will impose.”

In his work in reproductive care, Ghozland has seen the other side of the U.S. population inversion.

A woman pushes Fred Lear in a wheelchair after he had a physical therapy session at the LifeLong Medical Marin Adult Day Health Care Center in Novato, Calif., on Feb. 10, 2011. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

“There is a greater social-psychological cause of declining birth rates that I term ‘procreative dissonance,’” he said.

“My patients maintain the optimal levels of health and are biologically young even in their 40s. This creates a robust yet untrue feeling of suspended biological time, which comes into conflict with the fixed timetable of female ovarian aging.”

Ghozland said he believes that this contradiction—between readiness to have children and the biological window of time in which to have them—is “a dividing line” that prevents many couples from starting a family. Data also support his observation.

Between 2023 and 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention observed a decline in birth rates among females in the 15 to 34 age category, while women in the 40 to 44 age category showed an increase in births. This tracks with the established national trend of declining teenage pregnancies, which fell by 28 percent between 1990 and 2002.

Moreover, some evidence suggests that adults are not simply waiting longer to have children; many are opting out of parenthood entirely. A 2024 Pew study reports that the number of adults younger than 50 without children who say they are “unlikely to ever have kids” rose by 10 percent between 2018 and 2023.

While some researchers say the dangers of this demographic shift are overstated, others believe that it will have a massive effect on the economy.

The McKinsey analysis stated that younger generations will inherit “lower economic growth and shoulder the cost of more retirees, while the traditional flow of wealth between generations erodes.”

At the same time, according to analysts, nations, including the United States, need to raise fertility rates to avoid a passive “depopulation.”

Economists and the Social Security Administration have warned for years that more beneficiaries and fewer people paying into the program will make it insolvent. The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, in a 2022 report, stated that by 2034, Social Security costs will exceed Social Security revenue to the tune of $437 billion.

Labor Market Transformation

The labor market will also undergo a drastic transformation as fewer people enter the workforce over the next several decades. Meanwhile, adults are choosing to work longer into what traditionally would have been their retirement years. Some are even reentering the job market.

“It’s not so much the average age of the population that will be ... important, [but rather] the average age of the workforce,” Scott Siff, CEO of Pivoters, told The Epoch Times. Pivoters helps match job seekers older than 55 with employers seeking talent.

“At the moment, there are around 110 million people in the population over 55, and only about 37 percent are working,” Siff said. “But 74 percent of them want to be working.”

Figures vary, but the number of U.S. adults older than 55 is estimated to be near 103 million, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

“The biggest change we can look for is that the entire concept of retirement will change dramatically, and perhaps fade away entirely,” Siff said.

Siff said he believes that as overall population growth begins to slow, millions of adults older than 55 will start reentering the workforce en masse—and only partially because of lack of retirement savings.

While they need to work for financial reasons, “increasingly, they also want to work because of the dramatic positive impacts work has on longevity, happiness, health, and sense of purpose,” he said.

“The median savings today for people reaching so-called retirement age is about $50,000, but now that people can live decades past this notional retirement age, estimates are that people need to have $1 million saved for retirement,” Siff said.

Annual retirement costs for more affordable states in the Midwest and South run to about $50,000, according to a Visual Capitalist analysis. Consequently, this puts many in the age range of 55 and older in a financial bind.

Read the rest here...

Tyler Durden Sat, 10/25/2025 - 14:00

Florida Judge Halts Alligator Alcatraz Lawsuit Over Government Shutdown

Authored by Jill McLaughlin & Joseph Lord via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

An appeals court in Florida paused a lawsuit Wednesday over the South Florida Detention Center, also known as Alligator Alcatraz, after the Trump administration argued its attorneys were furloughed during the ongoing government shutdown.

The entrance to the state-managed immigration detention center dubbed Alligator Alcatraz, located at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in the Florida Everglades in Ochopee, Fla., on Aug. 3, 2025. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Judges on the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the federal government’s motion to halt litigation and directed the administration to let them know when it can continue.

Environmental groups sued the government in June, alleging that authorities rushed to build the facility without public comment or an environmental review, a process typically required under federal law.

The same appeals court blocked a federal judge’s order to dismantle the facility in an earlier ruling issued in September.

In August, a district court sided with environmentalist groups, including Friends of the Everglades and Florida’s Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, finding that the federal government had violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in failing to conduct an environmental impact review before construction of the facility.

The district court also ruled that the operation of the facility was not in the public’s best interest, nor would closing it result in irreparable harm.

The appeals court disagreed with both of these rulings in a 2–1 decision, with circuit court judges Barbara Lagoa and Elizabeth Branch siding with the defendants, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

Lagoa said the defendants were likely to demonstrate on appeal that they did not violate NEPA or the APA, because the court found no evidence that federal funding had been formally committed to the project.

The Center for Biological Diversity, one of the environmental organizations suing the administration over the illegal immigrant detention center, alleged that the government was further harming the environment with the request to pause the lawsuit.

“With this delay, the government is dodging accountability and imposing even more harm on the fragile Everglades,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades.

The group said it was determined to shut down the facility to protect Florida’s environment.

The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians will join the Friends of the Everglades and other protesters in a demonstration outside the center’s gates in the Big Cypress National Preserve on Sunday.

The Friends of the Everglades also plans to hold a weekly vigil.

The groups said the Everglades is the largest mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere. It was designated as an endangered UNESCO World Heritage site in 2010.

Tyler Durden Sat, 10/25/2025 - 12:50

Trump Wants New "Golden Fleet" Of Future Battleships For Hemispheric Defense

America is back in the Americas.

President Trump's Monroe Doctrine 2.0 plan, focused on hemispheric defense, centers on securing the homeland and the wider Western Hemisphere. The first visible military reposturing came with Trump's announcement of the Golden Dome continental missile defense shield, followed by renewed pressure on Venezuelan narco-terror networks and new attention on far-left political influence operations being exported from South America. Trump has also worked to wind down foreign conflicts, recently stating that he deserves credit for ending six or seven wars in his first months in office. He is now attempting to end the Ukraine-Russia war. If he succeeds, hemispheric defense will move into high gear.

Prioritizing the Western Hemisphere after decades of endless wars in the Middle East may also require upgrading America's naval fleet, as the proliferation of hypersonic weapons and drones by foreign adversaries could render some warships in the current fleet obsolete.

The replacement fleet of next-generation warships, referred to internally as the "Golden Fleet" by senior White House and Navy officials, is intended to secure the Western Hemisphere as the world moves toward a bipolar state in the 2030s, repel Chinese influence in the Americas, and maintain a naval edge in the Pacific theater, according to a new Wall Street Journal report.

At the center of the Golden Fleet are plans for a 15,000 to 20,000-ton "future battleship" equipped with long-range, hypersonic missiles, described as the modern equivalent of the World War II battleship. Instead of cannons, these next-gen warships will be optimized for missile warfare.

Here's more from WSJ:

Under the Golden Fleet concept, the Navy wants to move away from a specific number of ships as a goal, Clark said. Instead, officials will focus on a fleet of roughly 280-300 crewed ships, plus large numbers of unmanned vessels—called "robotic and autonomous systems"—to bridge the gap. The drone ships would act as "hedge forces" in each maritime theater to make up the difference between what the fleet can do day-to-day and what might be needed in conflict, Clark said.

. . .

Senior Navy officials see alignment between their own goals and the president's interests, said Clark, who is involved in Navy wargames meant to inform the Golden Fleet. The Navy has found that today's fleet is struggling to keep up with modern threats, for example the Yemen-based Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, Clark said.

. . .

Clark acknowledged that it could take many years to build new, large warships from scratch, and the ship likely wouldn't see the light of day until after Trump leaves office. Plans for a replacement cruiser, the canceled CG(X) program, indicate such a ship would take five years to design and another five to seven years to build, according to a former official.

Next-gen battleships have been on Trump's mind for some time. In late September, while addressing military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, the president spoke about the urgent need for new battleships.

President Trump says the U.S. military is “seriously considering” bringing back Battleships.

“I think we should start thinking about battleships.”

“It is something we're actually considering, the concept of battleship. Nice six-inch side solid steel. Not aluminum, aluminum… pic.twitter.com/a7dQwzNOik

— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) September 30, 2025

. . .

Tyler Durden Sat, 10/25/2025 - 09:55

They're Coming For Your Wood-Burning Stove... Again

Authored by Kit Knightly via Off-Guardian.org,

The weather is getting colder, and that means getting back to anti-wood-burning propaganda.

Did you know a wood burner can kill you? They pollute more than cars and cause cancer, “similar to cigarette smoke,” and so on.

Jeremy Vine is asking if it’s time to ban them.

This isn’t new – for want of a better word – “information”. We covered this last Christmas. Then over the summer, it was folded in with a barrage of “indoor air quality” fear-mongering, only to re-emerge now that the days are getting shorter again.

Sort of like reverse-hibernation.

A trendy wood burning stove almost killed me…they need to be banned before they do anymore damage

…screams the Daily Mail.

I like the word “trendy” — they keep using it — it’s so shamelessly manipulative, painting the humble stove as some pretentious luxury accessory, rather than the basic means of heating your home for literal millennia.

Anyway, the crux of the story is that this lady – Lizzie – had a severe asthma attack, and she “believes” it was linked to wood-burning stoves.

So they should be banned. Or something.

Then they quote a doctor:

‘This is why we want the government to launch a public awareness campaign on the health impacts and sources of pollution to empower the public to make cleaner choices and protect lung health, and other people like Lizzie.’

Then come the graphs. It’s all very predictable.

The Telegraph, more refined and less hysterical than the Daily Mail (which admittedly isn’t saying much) goes with…

Wood burners are bad for you. Here’s why you didn’t notice.

Detailing how new research has shown that wood burners are really terrible for everyone who uses them, but we just never noticed before.

Why didn’t we notice?

Oh, because the people who use them are “mostly” otherwise healthy and wealthy so the data was disguised by demographics.

Now, you might think that “research” which concludes “wood burning might make you sick, but being poor, eating badly or smoking are worse” is a shoe-in for the Well Duh! Prize at the annual Waste of Time Awards, but you’re wrong. It’s very serious.

Anyway, here’s their version of the doctor quote:

“It would be good to see increased awareness on the impact of wood burners, with clearer information and guidance from the Government on the health impact, as well as increased regulation around domestic wood-burning.”

No graphs this time, which is nice. But notice, like the Daily Mail article, the repeated association of wood burning with the upper class. It’s a luxury, not a right. That’s the message. The “expert” in the Telegraph even says, “primarily the reason for having a wood burner is the aesthetic of it.”

That’s a common sentiment, always presented without evidence.

That’s something I still find hilarious about the press — perhaps the British press in particular. These are identical stories, just in a house style. It’s like AI image filters, where you upload a photo of yourself and ask, “Show me this image as if it were painted by Van Gogh.” Or Rembrandt. Or Picasso.

“Tell me burning wood causes cancer in the style of the Guardian”. Or the Mirror. Or The Sun.

The aesthetic changes, the message does not.

And, of course, it’s not just the UK. When is it ever?

The devolved Scottish Parliament has already banned wood burners in newly built homes, with some local councils banning the installation of wood-burners in their council houses.

The anti-stove agenda clearly summers in Australia, because back in July, ABC were reporting on “the silent killer” of wood smoke, and how experts were calling for bans.

In New Zealand, government-commissioned research is blaming not just wood-burning stoves, but open fires, gas heaters and gas ovens for thousands of deaths per year.

In Canada, British Columbia is enforcing a registry for those who want to burn solid fuel domestically.

It comes back around to “indoor air quality”, the trendy new public health concern I wrote about back in July:

Reports are asking for new legislation to enforce limits and bans, and so on.

The European Public Health Alliance is demanding a “dedicated, harmonised EU framework for indoor air quality”, calling “healthy air” a human right:

Healthy air is a human right, and indoor air is no exception. It should be a shared global goal to make sure that this right is adequately and urgently enshrined, providing stronger legal tools for people to claim protections against environmental harms, including poor indoor air.

Investment in clean indoor quality is “vital preparation for the pandemics and climate emergencies to come”, apparently.

The United Nations launched a brand new Global Healthy Indoor Air Commission just last month; they are developing a “Global Framework for Action” even as we speak, to be published next year.

Consider buying a Smart Air Monitor, says the New York Times.

The Smart Air Monitor is the thing to watch here, I suspect. Full-on banning wood burners is a difficult sell – especially in the US – so the “compromise” measure may be mandated air quality meters to replace the smart meters in electrically heated homes.

Data and obedience to authority. That’s what this is actually about.

Yes, I’m sorry to have to disillusion anyone; it’s not really about asthma attacks.

The people that nailed you inside your house and forced you to mask up and vaccinate don’t actually care about whether or not you have asthma, Lizzie. They don’t really care about your well-being at all.

I’m sorry to have to tell you.

Likewise, it’s not about climate change. The preening idiots who fly private jets to catered global summits care about the planet about as much as they care about you. Or Lizzie.

It’s about information, not even important information, or useful information…just information. And control too, of course, how could we forget that part?

Information and control. The system is a machine designed to acquire both, forever. It requires we tell it everything and that everyone be dependent on it…for everything.

Wood burners — like people who keep chickens or dig their own wells or live without electricity — realistically represent only a small percentage of the population, but their existence poses nagging questions.

Questions like, How much wood are they using? How warm are they keeping their houses? For how long?

And most importantly: Who the fuck do these people think they are?

Burning your own fuel in your own house is about far more than the “aesthetic of it”, no matter how hard the papers try to tag it with that superficial label. A wood burner offers energy independence, and for that reason, like everything else that offers any kind of independence, they are considered a threat.

The existence of anyone or anything outside of the system, even in token or vestigial ways, threatens the idea that the system is even necessary. Therefore they must be attacked.

It’s an autoimmune response, a reflex; they can’t help it.

They need to know everything you’re doing, how you’re doing it, and why.

And, more importantly, they need you to be OK with that, to welcome it, even thank them for it.

They need you to know that is the safe; the normal; the only way the world works.

So, expect this messaging to continue until the ban is in place, or licenses are required, or they manage to wire a smart meter to a wood axe.

Tyler Durden Sat, 10/25/2025 - 09:20



 

 

This week, I speak with Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab. Liz Ann focuses on the entire economy, including stocks, bonds, and overseas markets. She’s also the cohost of the On Investing podcast and a keynote speaker at numerous company and industry conferences. Liz Ann and Barry discuss her investment experience, working with Charles Schwab, and market cycles.

Sonders notes that Nvidia is the best performing stock within the Mag 7 year-to-date, but it’s only the 47th best performing stock in the S&P 500. It’s the number one contributor to S&P gains by virtue of the multiplier of the cap size. There’s also ~630 stocks within the NASDAQ that are outperforming the best performing Mag 7.

Her favorite market book is here; A transcript of our conversation is available here Tuesday.

You can stream and download our full conversation, including any podcast extras, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Bloomberg. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Jon Hilsenrath, who runs Serpa Pinto Advisory, offering commentary and advice on economics, policy, and finance. Previously, he was chief economics correspondent for Wall Street Journal for 26 years covering economics and finance. Dubbed the “Fed Whisperer” by Wall St traders for his scoops on the FOMC, he worked out of Hong Kong, NY, and D.C. He is a two time Pulitzer Prize finalist for the 2014 Fed coverage and for the 2009 GFC. He was also part of the Pulitzer-prize winning team for on-scene coverage of 9/11. He is the author of  “Yellen: The Trailblazing Economist Who Navigated an Era of Upheaval.”

 

 

Favorite Books

 

 

 

 

The post MiB: Liz Ann Sonders, Chief Investment Strategist at Charles Schwab appeared first on The Big Picture.

Boo!
The FOMC meets this week and is expected to cut rates 25bp.

The key economic reports that will be released this week include the Case-Shiller house price index for August, and October ISM manufacturing and services indexes.

Items in Red will not be released due to the government shutdown.

----- Monday, October 27th -----
8:30 AM: Durable Goods Orders for September from the Census Bureau.

​10:00 AM: New Home Sales for September from the Census Bureau.

This graph shows New Home Sales since 1963. The dashed line is the sales rate for last month.

10:30 AM: Dallas Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity for October.


----- Tuesday, October 28th -----
9:00 AM ET: S&P/Case-Shiller House Price Index for August.  The consensus is for the National index to be up 1.9% year-over-year.

This graph shows the year-over-year change in the nominal seasonally adjusted National Index, Composite 10 and Composite 20 indexes through the most recent report (the Composite 20 was started in January 2000).

9:00 AM: FHFA House Price Index for August. This was originally a GSE only repeat sales, however there is also an expanded index.

10:00 AM: The Q3 Housing Vacancies and Homeownership report from the Census Bureau.

10:00 AM: Richmond Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity for October.  This is the last regional Fed survey for October.

----- Wednesday, October 29th -----
7:00 AM ET: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the results for the mortgage purchase applications index.

10:00 AM: Pending Home Sales Index for September. 

2:00 PM: FOMC Meeting Announcement. The Fed is expected to cut rates 25bp at this meeting.

2:30 PM: Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds a press briefing following the FOMC announcement.

----- Thursday, October 30th -----
8:30 AM: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.

8:30 AM: Gross Domestic Product, 3rd quarter 2025 (advance estimate).

----- Friday, October 31st -----
8:30 AM ET: Personal Income and Outlays for September.

9:45 AM: Chicago Purchasing Managers Index for October. The consensus is for a reading of 42.0, up from 40.6 in September.

Germany And Poland Are Growing Weary Of Ukrainian Refugees And War

Via Remix News,

New data from Germany and Poland is putting a spotlight on aid to Ukraine, including welcoming refugees who end up receiving benefits from the state. These countries are now asking just how much more they are willing to give.

Ever since Russia’s invasion in 2022, Ukrainian citizens aged 18 to 60 have been able to leave the country only with official permission. But at the end of August, Kyiv decided to liberalize the law, allowing young men aged 18 to 22 to travel abroad. 

According to data from the German Interior Ministry, the number of Ukrainians coming to Germany per week increased from just 19 in August to over 1,000 in September.

In October, the number increased even further to 1,400-1,800 per week.

Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder has now called on the EU to respond to a massive influx of Ukrainian refugees. 

“We must control and significantly limit the rapidly increasing influx of young men from Ukraine,” Söder said in an interview with the Bild daily, as cited by Do Rzeczy.

“The EU and Berlin must influence Ukraine to change its liberalized exit regulations again,” he added. 

A new survey by the INSA Institute for “Bild” has also shown that the majority of Germans do not want to finance benefits for refugees from Ukraine.

Currently, only 17 percent of respondents answered “yes” or “rather yes” to the question about citizenship benefits for refugees from Ukraine. The majority, 66 percent, are against it, and 7 percent of respondents indicated that it makes no difference to them. The remainder either did not answer or selected “don’t know.”

The survey also asked about the idea of ​​mandatory return of Ukrainian men to their homeland to serve at the front. 

Sixty-two percent of respondents believed that able-bodied Ukrainian men who arrived in Germany after the outbreak of the war should be allowed to return to their homeland. Eighteen percent of Germans surveyed opposed this, while 8 percent indicated they were indifferent, and 12 percent did not provide a clear answer.

Over in Poland, there has also been a report published highlighting just how much aid that country has provided to Ukraine. 

Paweł Kowal, Chairman of the Council for Cooperation with Ukraine, presented the “Polish Aid to Ukraine 2022–2023” report on Thursday.

The total cost of free assistance, including training, logistics, repairs, and medical support, exceeded $4 billion by March of this year. In 2022, it reached $1.6 billion, and in 2023-2024, $1.3 billion. Poland has also donated over 19,500 Starlink terminals to the front.

In total, aid for Ukraine represented 3.83 percent of Poland’s GDP. 

The report’s authors, notes Do Rzeczy, also highlighted assistance for Ukrainian refugees, including access to healthcare, the labor market, and the education system. Poland additionally supported Ukrainian entrepreneurs by facilitating their business operations.

The report also notes that Ukraine did purchase €2.2 billion worth of weapons from Poland between 2022 and 2023. 

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Sat, 10/25/2025 - 07:00

The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of Danish Blend coffee, grab a seat outside, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads:

• Why I Don’t Own Any Gold. It’s not a productive asset. It doesn’t do anything — no earnings or cash flow. If you are big on innovation, gold seems more like a relic. But I think it boils down to the historical return profile. I know stocks go through booms, busts and lost decades but gold went on such a terrible 40-year run that it makes me nervous to hold it for the long run. (A Wealth of Common Sense)

• A 6-year research project found a surprisingly simple route to happiness: Results of a study out of Cornell suggest a happiness hack that can lead you toward a life of purpose. (WaPo)  see also What True Wealth Looks Like: Money can make you happier, but only if you don’t care about it. (Atlantic) but see Why aren’t smart people happier? It is a mystery. Shouldn’t those people end up with happier lives, however unfair that may be? (Seeds of Science)

• Washington May Be Missing Signs of Economic Trouble: Why Republicans and Democrats alike get fooled by the stock market. (Politico)

• CRYPTO: Realm of the Coin: In a financial system upended by cryptocurrencies and meme stocks, where value is detached from utility and the loudest voice gets richest. It’s a brave new world in Bel Air that is part Bravolebrity, part Wolf of Wall Street, and all casino… (Vanity Fair)

• Bach is a Strange Loop. Can you call yourself a mathematician if you haven’t read Douglas Hofstadter’s Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid? Can you call yourself a former math major if you haven’t given up on that and read Hofstadter’s easier follow-up I Am A Strange Loop instead? (Romanticon)

• Spit On, Sworn At, and Undeterred: What It’s Like to Own a Cybertruck: “We were the targets.” WIRED spoke to seven Tesla Cybertruck owners about their most controversial purchase and why they’re proud to drive it. (Wired)

• How The West Was Lost: China spent decades laying its rare earths trap. Then Donald Trump blundered straight into it. Now there is no way out. Some thoughts on how we got here, and what happens next. (Wealth of Nations)

• ‘I Want to Win’: Inside Gavin Newsom’s Plan for Taking On Trump: Armed with a podcast, a ballot measure and tweets, California’s governor is spoiling for a fight with the president. (Businessweek)

• The puzzle of the ‘idiot savant’ The convergence of singular talent and profound disability confounded scientists eager to place humans into neat categories. (Aeon)

• ‘I realised I’d been ChatGPT-ed into bed’: how ‘Chatfishing’ made finding love on dating apps even weirder: Where once people were duped by soft-focus photos and borrowed chat-up lines, now they have to watch out for computer-generated charm. But it’s one thing to use a witty phrase – another thing entirely to build a whole fake persona … (The Guardian)

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Liz Ann Sonders, Chief Investment Strategist, Charles Schwab & Co.  Named “Best Market Strategist” by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, she is also on Barron’s “100 Most Influential Women in Finance” every year since the list’s inception.

 

How Vanguard Stacks Up Against Its Fund Industry Peers

Source: Morningstar

 

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The post 10 Weekend Reads appeared first on The Big Picture.

The Green Mirage: The Hidden Costs Behind The Electric Car Hype

Authored by Mark Keenan via AmericanThinker.com,

In Sweden, a two-kilometer stretch of electrified highway allows electric vehicles to charge while they drive — a prototype for 3,000 kilometers of such roads planned by 2045.

It all sounds sleek, modern, and progressive, like something from a futurist’s dream.

Eddie Grant once sang, “We’re gonna rock down to Electric Avenue.”

But before we charge headlong into this electric future, we should pause to ask: is any of this really helping the environment?

The answer, inconveniently, is no.

Electric vehicles are not the sustainable miracle they’re marketed to be — this article details the hidden environmental toll of battery production, the inefficiency of “green” energy systems, and the deeper agenda behind the global push toward EVs and UN-driven sustainability mandates.

The prevailing narrative of “zero-emission” transportation falls apart with documented evidence, industry data, and science itself.

The green movement’s corporate and political drivers open up broader questions of personal freedom, economic control, and truth in environmental science.

Why Electric Cars Are Fake Environmentalism

The truth is that electric cars represent not genuine environmental progress, but a triumph of corporate marketing — or, depending on your view, outright deception. Buyers are told they’re saving the planet, but the materials required for millions of lithium-ion batteries — lithium, rhodium, cobalt — must be mined and refined in massive industrial operations powered by diesel and coal.

Those mining and processing sites, particularly in rural China and Mongolia, have left behind serious air, water, and soil contamination. These are real environmental problems — not the imaginary CO2 “crisis” that global bureaucrats prefer to talk about.

In a recent article, I describe how 2,000 scientists from over 30 nations have signed a declaration stating there is no “CO2-induced” climate emergency — a document I also signed.

In the book Climate CO₂ Hoax I detail that modern environmentalism has been hijacked by a communist-type agenda of political control aligned with the deceptive U.N. Sustainable Development Goals; and is also designed to compel us all to buy millions of so-called green products, such as EVs.

“Buy an [expensive] electric car to save the planet” is one of the great marketing lies of our time — a devastator, as I call it, a lie so large it bewilders the public.

Furthermore, when a cold snap hits an EV can lose 10%–50% of its driving range; and can take two to three times longer to charge.

Consider this image: a lithium leach field so toxic that a bird landing on it dies within minutes. This is what your “eco-friendly” battery is made of. Yet we are told to congratulate ourselves for saving the environment.

The Carbon Footprint of an EV is Worse Than Diesel

Governments are now pushing to eliminate gasoline and diesel cars by 2035 in favor of EVs.

But once you factor in the energy and pollution costs of mining and manufacturing, the carbon footprint of an EV is worse than that of a diesel vehicle.

Even after production, most EVs run on electricity generated from fossil fuels. Despite decades of subsidies, wind provides less than 5% of global energy and solar just 1%.

According to a European Commission study, the total “well-to-plug” efficiency of electric energy — after accounting for production and distribution losses—is only 37%.

The electric dream, then, is profoundly inefficient.

Marketing, Not Miracles

The first illusion came with the “hybrid.”

These cars are still gasoline-powered; the tiny battery is charged by the engine itself. A hybrid that gets 55 mpg is no cleaner than a conventional car achieving the same mileage. A planet full of hybrids would remain 100% addicted to oil.

Elon Musk’s Tesla marketing has taken this one step further.

Musk writes that Tesla’s mission is to move humanity from a “mine-and-burn hydrocarbon economy” to a “solar electric economy.” He argues that even if EVs use fossil-generated electricity, they emit less CO2 per mile than conventional cars.

But Musk omits five crucial facts:

1. Repurposing the world’s industrial base for “green” energy demands a vast new fossil-fuel expenditure — factories, grids, and distribution systems—all still dependent on diesel, coal, and mining.

2. The energy return on investment (EROEI) for solar and wind is too low to sustain modern civilization without subsidies.

3. Mining for rare earths — lithium, cobalt, rhodium — remains devastating to land, air, and water.

4. The full life cycle of an EV, from mining to manufacturing, shipping, and eventual disposal, consumes enormous energy. Charging from solar barely scratches the surface of this embedded cost.

5. CO₂ itself is not the problem as detailed in the book Climate CO2 Hoax.

As a former technical expert at the U.N. Environment Programme, I have seen firsthand what real pollution looks like.

CO2 is not soot, not poison, and not a pollutant. It is an odorless gas and an essential plant nutrient. The Earth’s biosphere runs on CO2 — without it, crops and forests would die.

Climate shifts, meanwhile, are natural. The Little Ice Age ended around 1800; a modest warming since then is hardly cause for alarm. Periods of warming and cooling have defined our planet for billions of years.

The Physical Cost of a “Zero Emission” Car

The reality of EV production should end the myth. A single Tesla Model Y battery demands massive resources — about 12 tons of lithium ore, 5 tons of cobalt minerals, 3 tons of nickel ore, and 12 tons of copper ore. Roughly 250 tons of soil must be moved to yield small amounts of these metals. Each battery also requires hundreds of pounds of aluminum, steel, plastic, and graphite.

The giant Caterpillar machines used in this mining can burn hundreds of gallons of diesel every 12 hours. Once complete, we get a so-called “zero-emission” car — built with materials largely sourced from China or Africa, often mined by child labor.

Tesla battery packs cost $5,000–$20,000 and last about ten years. It takes roughly seven years for an EV to reach “net-zero” carbon parity with a gasoline car — by which time the battery’s life is nearly over, and the cycle begins again.

The Real Agenda

The green revolution, like so many fashionable causes, is less about saving the planet than consolidating control — over energy, your money, and your freedom. The word “sustainable” has been hijacked by mega-corporate interests and global institutions, such as the U.N., the WEF, and the Davos elite. Behind the U.N. slogans lies a communist-style totalitarian vision of control over the people: “sustainability” as perpetual dependency, “carbon neutrality” as bureaucratic rationing, and “climate emergency” as a tool of economic centralization.

Electric cars are not liberation — they are compliance devices.

It’s time to call the bluff: driving an electric car does not make you a defender of nature. It makes you a customer in the most profitable deception of the modern age.

*  *  *

Mark Keenan is the author of Climate CO2 Hoax: How Bankers Hijacked the Environment Movement and The War on Men: How the New Gender Politics Is Undermining Western Civilization. A former UN technical expert, he writes on culture, science, and the ideological forces reshaping the West.

Tyler Durden Fri, 10/24/2025 - 23:25

What Americans Worry About

More than half of Americans said that they considered the cost of living among the biggest issues plaguing the country.

As Statista's Katharina Buchholz reports, this is more than any of the other 17 issues surveyed by Statista Consumer Insights among 60,000 Americans between October 2024 and September 2025.

You will find more infographics at Statista

Around 40 percent of respondents considered crime, the economy, health and social security as well as poverty and housing major issues.

Approximately a third of respondents said the same about education, immigration, unemployment and climate change.

Worry about inflation was very widespread among the 21 countries in the survey.

Many nations collectively rated it as the biggest issue right now - not surprising in the current global environment of rising or persistently high prices.

A problem the United States rated higher than other countries was crime.

Only between a quarter and a third of people thought it was a major issue in several European and Asian locales as oposed to 42 percent in the United States.

On the other hand, worry about climate change was lower in the U.S. at only 30 percent worrying about it to a high degree.

In other developed countries, this rate was closer to 35 or 40 percent, with the issue normally reaching rank 5-8 among important problems, ahead of rank 10 it occupies in the United States.

Immigration was not rated as big a concern by Americans, however, when compared to other nations. 31 percent of Americans said they thought it was a major issue, compared to around 40 percent in Italy, Sweden and Germany and even higher ratings in Turkey (49 percent) and Chile (62 percent).

Tyler Durden Fri, 10/24/2025 - 23:00